What NOT to do when applying.

I think we're talking about 2 different things. Applying online via a company's online application tool, and applying online via email in response to an ad placed on something like craigslist, gumtree etc where the poster (presumably the employer?) has listed a vacancy but provided no email address or other information that adequately identifies the employer.

I was thinking about the latter. My industry (law) doesn't utilize online applications that much, but thousands of lawyers and law firms will post these vacancies on craigslist etc with no identifying information. I quit sending my resume and instead sent an email requesting a valid email address for the firm in question and otherwise stating that I fit all of the job reqs. Hardly any of these firms respond, and they haven't see my resume yet! I think they just get flooded with responses.

At the end of the day networking is key. Getting someone you know at a company to talk to the hiring person and show them your resume is a pretty sure way of getting an interview at the very least. I've never not interviewed a referral, even if just to be polite to a colleague who made it. The odds are so much better than the lottery and numbers game of anonymous online recruiting. But, we can't all just do that, and so we are relegated to applying online or via email in response to a posted ad and hopefully maybe getting an interview for every 1000 applications we send out.

I have a question!

Is there a 'best time of day' or a 'best day of the week' to send a CV for a job that is advertised directly by a company?

I have heard Mondays are bad, and Fridays are bad... First day into the office after a holiday is bad...

Or, is that all just silly talk, and it really does not matter?

I think we're talking about 2 different things. Applying online via a company's online application tool, and applying online via email in response to an ad placed on something like craigslist, gumtree etc where the poster (presumably the employer?) has listed a vacancy but provided no email address or other information that adequately identifies the employer.

I was thinking about the latter. My industry (law) doesn't utilize online applications that much, but thousands of lawyers and law firms will post these vacancies on craigslist etc with no identifying information. I quit sending my resume and instead sent an email requesting a valid email address for the firm in question and otherwise stating that I fit all of the job reqs. Hardly any of these firms respond, and they haven't see my resume yet! I think they just get flooded with responses.

At the end of the day networking is key. Getting someone you know at a company to talk to the hiring person and show them your resume is a pretty sure way of getting an interview at the very least. I've never not interviewed a referral, even if just to be polite to a colleague who made it. The odds are so much better than the lottery and numbers game of anonymous online recruiting. But, we can't all just do that, and so we are relegated to applying online or via email in response to a posted ad and hopefully maybe getting an interview for every 1000 applications we send out.

In that case, I would probably call the firm, instead of email, to try and get the information on where to send my resume/CV. You're right that your email will get lost in the shuffle. If I can't get a response in a reasonable amount of time, I'd move onto the next place. If there are THAT many jobs out there for you to apply for, unless you're really counting on that one place, then just move onto the next.

Don't assume I'm a man and in the first line talk about how you'd be happy to come to work in sexy cosplay (Srsly!) Even if I was a man, I'm likely not a 12 year old boy.

You mean I slaved over my sexy Leia cosplay for nothing?!

Homer Simpson & Swimsuit Competition

A question to recruiters... would you overlook an applicant if they didn't live near the job? While reading cover letters, if they state that they live far away, does it truly make a difference if they express a willingness to relocate? Say if they're applying for a job in London but live in Plymouth? Would you readily choose a local applicant over someone who has to relocate? Though I'm in the US, and as someone who is applying for jobs out of state, I wonder if my application will be cast aside over someone who already lives in the city. 

Though I'm in the US, and as someone who is applying for jobs out of state, I wonder if my application will be cast aside over someone who already lives in the city. 

Not a recruiter, but my good friend is trying to relocate from AZ to WA so is applying from out of state. She's had a couple of phone interviews, a couple of in person interviews, and a lot of "no thanks". No job offer yet. Not sure how much of this is the location thing or the economy (and/or the specialized field she works in), but she has at least gotten some interest in her CV.

Thanks for these tips. I'll be made redundant next week and looking for a job in the new year. We've had some good support sessions with an external firm that has been invaluable in getting my CV into shape (down to 2 pages) and tips on how to tweak it for each job. Interesting what you say about the cover letter though as for my industry, IT, the online adverts seem to just have the ability to upload your CV, not a cover letter. So would you suggest adding cover letter to that and uploading it as one?

Also - out of interest I'm also looking whats available in the US, maybe if something comes up we might decide to move back. I actually found a job just 20 miles from where DW's daughter lives. So why not apply and see what happens.....the question here is I don't have a work visa for the US so I do need a cover letter here explaining the situation that my spouse is a US citizen and we could take tht route for me to get a visa....how would I approach that (A little off topic I know!)

Sorry to dig up a bit of an old post I know, but I just wanted to clarify something:

While most of the opening post is correct, I will have to disagree about the point that states "Don't apply for a job as soon as it goes live" - I'm going to have to say do the opposite. I was a team leader for several years, and involved in a lot of recruitment (high churn role / team) and have worked closely with managers before and after that.

In most cases, a position had become available because someone was leaving the team, and had given us their 4 weeks notice. As most people who have a job, have this leave period, anyone we hire will be on the same notice period, so basically the sooner we hire someone, the less time we are 1 person down (or 2 or 3 - dependant on the situation) so this could have a huge impact on the team. So in most cases, yes we DO want people to apply as soon as possible! The earlier you apply, the earlier you can be interviewed, the earlier you can give your current employer your 4 weeks notice* (if applicable) and the least amount of time we're short of staff, which could afford customers and even the business making money, so I must disagree with this I'm afraid.